An Economy In Shackles, Not In Decline.

Rush Limbaugh said something on his show yesterday which I believe may be the single most insightful thing ever uttered by the most polarizing talk show host in our nation. At the 4:40 mark on the video is where Mr. Limbaugh really gets at the nub of the matter. The free market system that has served us so well for 221 years, (assuming 1791 as the starting point for our constitutional republic,) did not begin to falter until the geniuses in Washington began to regulate it. Even today, even with the Democrat Party's best efforts to destroy it, our economy is still the strongest in the world. The statement that somehow, the free markets have failed, after 221 years of unprecedented success may be one of the all time egregiously idiotic statements ever uttered by human speech. Our economy has continued to thrive through the great depression and beyond despite the efforts of our Legislative and Executive Branches, not because of them. Barack Obama needs Americans to be completely ignorant of the broader picture painted by history in order to sell his snake oil. Part of that snake oil is convincing us all that America is somehow in decline, that we need to take our just place as a mediocre nation, just one of the gang, and allow a more just Marxist entity to be the world's superpower now.

The only problem of course is that our nation is not in decline, it is merely in shackles. There is a difference, and that difference is not so subtle as Rush Limbaugh painted it to be. that difference is huge. In November, we will have the philosophical battle for our national direction once again. Will we begin to remove those shackles placed on America as a nation and allow for our free market economy to once again create the wealth and prosperity unbounded by cynical politicians and cronies seeking expanded privilege and power? Conversely, will we place even more shackles and onerous regulation on the backs of our fellow citizens taking solace that we will all be equally miserable, except of course for the elite class of politicians and cronies favored by the state as somehow deserving of dear leader's grace?

It has taken about a century of meddling since the Administration of Woodrow Wilson to bring the world's greatest economy to its knees. Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter almost succeeded, and Ronald Reagan was able to reverse much of that damage. It took political will and personal courage for Reagan to stay the course he undertook. (For those of you who remember, the first three years of Reagan's term in office were not exactly a bed of roses. Things took a good long while to start turning around.) The question now is this, will someone else emerge with the courage and political will to allow the only medicine that has ever worked, sufficient time to actually work?

Our greatest days are indeed ahead of us, should we elect to seek them. A large portion of our manufacturing base was not enticed over seas by cheap labor, we chased it away by inflicting it with onerous regulations and a taxation burden that can be only characterized as punitive. Punishing success has never been a good way to create wealth. Anyone who has ever owned a dog can tell you that beating the animal for urinating outside is not going to help in your efforts to house break that pet. The manufacturing base of the world will settle anywhere they can make their products most efficiently, with affordable energy, and with as little interference from the politicians as possible. Even with all we've done to the auto industry, there are still 14 auto manufacturers not named GM, Ford , or Chrysler, building cars in America. The question is, do we want that to continue to be the case? Eventually, if we try hard enough, we might be able to successfully chase them away as well. Just follow California's lead, and threaten to sue them over carbon emissions, which of course have not been shown scientifically to harm anything. If I were a car company, I would stop selling cars to California. How many auto plants are in California anyhow? Californians must already purchase the majority of their electricity from other states. Hardly a self sufficient place.

Many times through the last few months this thought has occurred to me and I keep wondering why an issue hasn’t been made of it. Hello Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, Fox News, etc.

If Romney was running a foot race with the other candidates and at the end of the race, after blood tests were taken, it was discovered that he was on steroids would he not be disqualified. In this case, dollars are his steroids. Without belaboring the point, Michigan, the state Romney was born in serves as a prime example. If we went back and looked at all the races from this perspective, Romney would be so far back in the dust we wouldn’t be able to see him. Romney hasn’t a clue what life is about for most of us. I am talking about a gross income of $100,000.00 a year of less. Those of us in this group know what a realistic budget is about after funding the health, housing, education, and other needs required in supporting a family.

We the people need to put people in office that truly understand “we the people”.